The present invention is directed to displaying, employing and otherwise treating data, and especially to treating data imported from one domain to an array of data sites defined in another domain.
For purposes of this description, the term “treating” data is intended herein to refer to importing, copying, moving, combining and mathematically or otherwise manipulating, calculating or handling data.
Treating data is an important function of business in various endeavors. By way of example and not by way of limitation, this description will address endeavors involving numerical data. More specifically, this description will address exemplary endeavors involving financial data. Other data may be advantageously treated using the present invention as can be understood by those skilled in the art of data handling systems and methods, such as computer program, computer system and computer method designers.
Prior art methods and systems for treating financial data have employed data treatment tools such as spreadsheets to view general ledger numerical data. However, programs employed for creating, generating or otherwise originating general ledger data used in the spreadsheets have provided data incompatible with the spreadsheet in some regard. By way of example and not by way of limitation, a first software program may generate financial results in a data format that may be imported, copied, pasted or otherwise provided for use in a spreadsheet. However, it was first necessary to adjust columns or rows in the receiving spreadsheet or otherwise recast the receiving spreadsheet to accommodate certain attributes of the imported data. Failure to properly accommodate attributes of imported data could result in lost results, improper results or other anomalies resulting from combining the newly-imported data with data previously residing in the spreadsheet. Data residing in a spreadsheet may include data in a data base from which a spreadsheet program picks data for filling the spreadsheet according to predetermined protocol.
A receiving spreadsheet may be employed in a shared mode among various sites in a business. Such sharing may be carried out in a private network or in a public network, such as the Internet. Establishing data with appropriate attributes to effect such network sharing adds another set of characteristics that must be accommodated when recasting a receiving spreadsheet to receive imported data.
Recasting a receiving spreadsheet to accommodate newly-imported data appropriately to maintain operational integrity by the receiving spreadsheet can be a time consuming and frustrating experience that users would prefer to avoid.
In addition, it is sometimes desired that user alter data as it is moved from one data site or data cell to another data cell. An example of such an occasion is when performing a “what-if” evaluation of an alternate situation than is expressed using the original data. By way of example and not by way of limitation, a user may wish to mathematically alter a number when transferring the number from one data cell to another data cell, such as by adding or subtracting a factor from the number to effect transferring only a portion of the amount represented by the figure to the second data cell. Other mathematical operations may as well be employed to achieve the end of altering transferred data, such as multiplying the number in the first data cell by a factor, applying a percent factor to the number, dividing the number by a factor or by affecting the number using another operation.
Prior art systems would require altering the number in the first data cell and entering the portion desired of the number in the second data cell to carry out such an inter-cell data change. Two mathematical operations plus navigation among data cells would therefore be required.
It would be more efficient if the alteration of the number in the first data cell and transfer of a portion of the number in the first data cell to a second data cell could be carried out in a single navigation operation between the first and second data cells. By way of example and not by way of limitation, alteration of a number during navigation between a first data cell and a second data cell may be effected using a “partial drag-and-drop” operation. Such a partial drag-and-drop operation may, by way of example and not by way of limitation, present a query to a user during a drag-and-drop operation to inquire whether the user wished to alter the selected data or a portion of the selected data before entering the data in the second data cell. The user may respond to the query by designation of the portion of the data it is desired to transfer. The partial drag-and-drop operation would preferably automatically carry out the operation affecting the number entered in the second data cell and alter the number in the first data cell to reflect the apportionment of its value between the first and second data cells.
There is a need for a method and system for effecting alteration of a number in a first data cell and transfer of a portion of the number in the first data cell to a second data cell during a navigation operation between the first and second data cells.